The Great and P-Powerful

The castle of friendship stood foreboding on the horizon. Its jagged spires and crystalline branches were misted by distance, and yet Starlight still felt like it was breathing over her back, watching, observing the denizens of Ponyville with an iron-laden hoof, ready to report on their misdeeds like some twisted elder brother.

She could imagine Princess Twilight Sparkle on the throne—no, at the balcony, rather, with a telescope to her eyes as she carefully inspected—judged—the ponies of Ponyville for their misdeeds. Even when she had her back to it, she could still feel it, her mentor’s eyes boring into the back of her head.

Her ears wilted just thinking about what was to come. What would The Princess think about her? What would she say? What would she, herself say?

Her heart was pounding in her chest. Ponies’ voices chattered all around her, unafflicted by the princess’ gaze, all whilst they went about their business eating their—”

“Starlight?” A pony’s voice snapped her back to the present. Starlight almost got whiplash as she tore her gaze away from the castle and snapped to the pony across the table from her. Chocolate Ganaché had a mouth full of hayburger, and was giving Starlight a concerned glare as he wiped the mayonnaise from his lip. “Is everything okay?” His voice was soft, albeit stifled by his chewing. “You seemed rather distant.”

“Oh, y-yeah...” Starlight muttered. She glanced to her own plate—salad and a broccoli casserole. She’d barely touched it. It was probably almost cold.

She levitated her fork and took a small bite of it regardless. Yep. Definitely cold.

“It’s okay, I was just...”

“Concerned?” Chocolate jumped in. He wiped his chin with the napkin and reached across the table, setting his hoof over Starlight’s own. A slight tremble ran up her spine at the contact, and Starlight couldn’t help but stare as Chocolate looked into her eyes, his own soft and filled with—she couldn’t quite put it. Compassion? “I understand, Star. If you’re nervous about visiting The Princess, you don’t have to. I won’t make you do this.”

“I-” Starlight flinched. She jerked her foreleg back, retreating to her side of the table whilst trying to avoid Chocolate’s gaze. “I-It’s not that,” she said. “I still want to go with you. It’s just—I need to tell you the tr—“

“Sir. Madam.” A tall, slender stallion stepped up to their table clad in a smart dress and tie as he cut like butter through their conversation. “If I may?” He gestured to Chocolate’s empty plate, then levitated it out from between them at the latter’s affirmation. He then glanced to Starlight. Their eyes met, and she saw a slight sparkle in his as his moustache turned up into a smirk. “Will there be anything else for the couple, m’lady?”

Starlight’s face instantly turned red. Her cheeks burned as both she and Chocolate shared an awkward glance. The stallion instantly pulled away, coughing, as Starlight rushed to correct. “Oh-Oh-no, no, we’re not—”

“We’re not together.” Chocolate said.

“—together.” Starlight confirmed with a nod. “We’re just friends.” She flashed an awkward smile to the waiter, hoping beyond hope that nopony had noticed her flushed complexion. She then added, “J-Just the bill.”

The waiter’s moustache curled back down and his eyebrows scrunched, but his eyes still had that knowing sparkle to them. He gave a short bow, looking to each pony in turn, and then left to complete the order.

Starlight held her smile, watching the waiter as he cantered away from their table, past another group, and then finally disappeared around the corner, at which point she finally let her face drop and groaned. “Ooooh my Celestia!” She almost slammed her face into the table, but noticing the casserole, thought better of it and instead let herself slide lower against the back of the bench. “That was sooo embarrassing. I can’t believe he thought we were a couple.”

“I know,” Chocolate said with a smirk. “Imagine that.” He set a hoof on the table, the smirk forming into a wily grin as he gave Starlight the googly eyes. “A handsome stallion like me, and a mare like you, a couple!”

He wiggled his eyebrows and Starlight couldn’t help herself but giggle. “Oh-Oh stop it...” She waved a hoof, stifling her laughs as she leaned against the table, pushing the cold casserole aside. “You know what I meant,” she wheezed, and forced her composure again, this time shooting back with her own lidded gaze. “You said it yourself, or do you”—she fluttered her eyes—“Want to take it back?”

A visible red blush rose in Chocolate’s cheeks, and Starlight took pride in watching as the stallion fidgeted uncomfortably. He coughed into a hoofkerchief, and made a move to loosen his collar as he attempted to avoid Starlight’s gaze. “Wh-well—I—It’s not that I don’t like you”

Starlight stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry. She swatted him with a hoof, just missing due to the distance. “Oh come on, I’m just teasing,” she said. Chocolate instantly relaxed, but not before she could sneak in a quick wink and the word. “Or am I?”

He bristled on the spot, and Chocolate immediately broke into a fit of giggles. “Oh, okay, okay fine!” he shouted between laughs. “I get it!”

Starlight could sense other ponies looking in their direction from other tables. She even caught the waiter eyeing them from the kitchen, but she decided to ignore them for the time being. The ponies can gossip all they wanted; it wasn’t going to matter to her. “Good.” She leaned back and crossed her hooves with a smile.

She waited a moment whilst Chocolate calmed down, and watched the stallion slowly catch his breath. He breathed a sigh as the last giggles left him and was wiping the tears from his eyes when she finally decided to return to their previous conversation, this time at a little more ease. “So,” she said, “As I was saying. I am still going with you to see Princess Twilight. I promise,” she insisted with that last word. “It’s just, I feel like I have to tell you the truth, about my relation with the—”

“The bill, madam.” Once again, Starlight was cut off by the coattails as the waiter swooped in between them, this time with a little black book and pen floating at his side. He set it down open in front of her with the slip easily visible. “That will be one thousand, five-hundred bits, for the burger and casserole.”

“Oh, oh, I’m sorry.” Starlight took one look at the bill and her stomach lurched. “I don’t think I have that many—”

“It’s fine.” Chocolate held out his hoof and pulled the booklet over to his side. He lifted a small pouch of bits from under the table and began counting out the amount. “This lunch will be on.”

“Oh, Choc, you don’t ha—”

“I insist” He shot Starlight a glare as the bag of bits left his hoof, swapped for the pen by the waiter’s magic. “It’s my treat.” As he scribbled his name, he cast Starlight a reassuring smile. “And besides, Starlight, you don’t have to confess anything to me. I consider us friends, and good friend doesn’t pressure another to reveal their secrets. If there’s something you don’t feel comfortable telling me, you don’t have to. I won’t press for it.”

“But Chocolate—”

“No buts.” He put his hoof down then pushed his chair back as the water nodded them their farewells. He offered Starlight a hoof. “Now come on, we’d better get going; can’t let the lines be getting too long now, can we?”

~ ~ ~

After a great many hours of work and phone calls, Trixie, The Great and Sexyful beamed with pride as she looked over her assortment of instruments and artefacts. The inside of her caravan was shaking and trembling, jangling, around her as the ponies slowly hauled her and her treasures nearer to her prize.

Everything was falling into place. A flicker of her magic brought the now-repaired chair from her dressing table over to the bed, where she seated herself backwards and leaned against the backrest with crossed hooves to go over her plan one more time.

“Oh Starlight, you’re going to love this,” she whispered, licking her lips as she straightened the straps and lifted her prize from the heavy and worn black box.

~ ~ ~

There was a deep rumble that filled the square outside Twilight’s castle. Mares, stallions, griffons and dragons alike mulled around, some standing, others sitting, or chatting between themselves, adding to the persistent din as they all patiently awaited their turn.

It was already well past noon when Starlight and Chocolate arrived, and by then the line of ponies had already grown outside the door. More than the door, in fact; the entire street was utterly packed with bodies. A veritable multi-coloured mob had come out to see Twilight, a pleasant mob, but a mob all the same—Starlight thought.

She carefully eyed the mares around them as they cantered further into the brightly-coloured crowd. Mares and stallions mulled around them. Some pegasi jumped into the air out of their way, and colts could be heard squealing somewhere behind the living walls of coat and scales.

She spotted, on more than one occasion, a mare’ ears perk backwards and her head turn. Several sets of eyes flickered over her as ponies whipped their attention to the newcomers, some following her with their gaze, and others immediately looking away, back to their own interests upon discerning that Starlight wasn’t, in fact, her mentor, Twilight Sparkle.

After a good few steps, the crowd was growing dense and the murmur had turned to more than a din. Starlight lowered her ears, and she motioned for Chocolate to stop. The wall of flesh was already too thick to see past, and even as she reared to see over their heads, it was getting hard to make out exact where the front of the castle was.

As Starlight lowered herself back to the ground, Chocolate whistled. “Wow,” He mouthed a big ‘O’. “This is...”

“I know.” Starlight nodded. She flicked an ear as she looked back the way they’d come. The path was already closing in around them as more ponies followed their lead. “I’ve never seen the castle quite this full.”

“Do we just... wait it out?”

“I don— Oh!” The mare in front of them started to move and Starlight jumped at the chance to get another glimpse of their target. She reared back up and cupped a hoof to shade her eyes as she squinted ahead.

Some light flashed through the widening gap as somepony else took flight, and the corner of the eastern-most parapet—or was it a guard tower? The gap was so small, it might well have been a window and no pony would even tell. The important part was that she could see the castle, and--

And old stallion shuffled in front of them with a grousing grunt as he squeezed between all the other ponies. His ten gallon hat practically blocked out the sun, filling Starlight’s entire vision with nothing but tanned tree-bark and the smell of cattle manure.

“H-Hey!” She gasped, then, when the stallion made no move to respond, she screamed. “What are you doing!?” She shouted.

He snorted. The stallion’s hat hummed with the faint glow of magic, and a wooden back scratcher levitated up behind him to groom over his flank—right in Starlight’s face.

“Ah-no, no!” She recoiled away, gagging, as she back-pedalled. She’d raised a hoof to punt him out of the way, but instead ended up throwing herself off balance as she tumbled to the ground in a heap against Chocolate’s side. “Hey! HEY!” Starlight screamed from Chocolate’s arms, too red with rage to care about anything else. She waved her hoof at the stallion—by Celestia, if this brute wasn’t going to—

A burly mare with buck teeth, and her group of five children joined the stallion in waiting in front of them.

“Oh COME ON!” Starlight screamed, and facehoofed. “What is wrong with these ponie—“

“Ahem.”

Chocolate coughed, and Starlight went silent. Her ears perked back up as she pulled her face out of her hooves to glance up at the stallion holding her.

Holding.

Her.

She noticed Chocolate blushing and her gaze turned down slightly. The tingly, familiar, musk of something tickled her nose as she spotted something peeking out at just about eye-level.

Oh. Oh no. Oh buck no.

Starlight’s heart leapt into her chest and she leapt out of his hooves, turning beetroot red as she scuttled to put some distance between them. Unfortunately, the smothering crowd of ponies made that virtually impossible, and the smell of the family of nine made that practically impossible. She had to settle for a hair-breadth of distance between them as they both avoided each other’s gaze, challenging each other to see who could flush the deepest shade of red.

Starlight fumbled with her words whilst trying not to look down, knowing perfectly well what she’d see if she did. It didn’t help that she was starting to smell him, and that most definitely meant he could smell here. “I—I’m so-so-so-so, I didn’t mean to—“

“No.” Chocolate cut her off, his ears splayed back as he attempted to step away from Starlight. “N-No. It’s quite alright. I-” Her breathed in, then out. “I don’t mind. It was an accident.”

The crowd shifted around them as they both lapsed into an awkward silence. Starlight averted her gaze, choosing to direct her attention to—well, anything. The ten-gallon stallion, as she’d taken to calling him, seemed interesting enough, even if he was disgusting.

Disgusting was good. Disgusting was great. She couldn’t get off to disgusting.

Together, they took a step forward with the crowd, inching agonizingly closer to the castle. It would only take... a few days, at this rate.

“Um, Star...”

“You know what?” Starlight snapped back around to facing Chocolate, a sly smirk creeping onto her face. “I’m not going to wait in this line, and you shouldn’t either.” Her ears flicked left and right as she checked her surroundings for an easy exit.

“Starlight, what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking...” She leaned closer to whisper in his ear, cupping her hoof on the other side to make absolutely sure nopony overheard them. The last thing she needed was to be followed. “I might know another way we can get into the castle, without waiting in this line.

Chocolate’s eyes widened and Starlight couldn’t contain her grin as she watched the excitement dawn on him. She continued, “But you have to keep quiet, and promise me you won’t tell anypony, what do you say?”

“OhmyCelestiaI love you, Starlight!”

She frowned. “What?”

Chocolate waved a hoof, as he gave a short bow. “Follow the way, m’lady!”

Starlight giggled. “Okay, okay, Bucko. Let’s get out of this crowd, then.”

~ ~ ~

“The Castle of Friendship has a side entrance for staff and residence to get in and out without anypony noticing.” Starlight Glimmer tip-hoofed around the back of the castle. Her head was low and she held her ears forwards, perked and ready for action, as the two made their way around to the castle’s courtyard. “It also allows them to take deliveries and move furniture without blocking the entrance. I learned that one the hard way when—

“The hard way whilst reading a magazine about it!” Yes, perfect save, Starlight. “It was in a magazine. About castles. And secrets.” She stopped mid-step, her eyes darting round for anypony that might have seen. Chocolate was probably still somewhere behind her, so he might not have didn’t caught her slip up, so long as she continued to act casual. She grinned. “Every castle has one. A side entrance, that is. Everypony knows about it—Hey! Look!” Continuing with a slight beading of sweat, starlight broke into a sprint as they reached the next corner, and then rounded it to arrive at the crook of the castle’s back courtyard.

A wall of shrubbery and hedges were the only thing that stood between them and the castle’s private courtyard. Starlight slowly approached the hedging whilst Chocolate cantered up behind her. She heard the stallion huffing and wheezing as he dragged his hooves and slowly wheezed into position beside her.

There was no way she was going to turn around to check that he was okay now. They were so close she could almost taste it. The castle’s magic was blissfully calm, and if her measurements were anywhere correct, and they mostly were—After all, she’d kept a very accurate measure of the castle. She had to. It was the only way she could even find her way in this Celestia-forsaken maze. Even important things, like finding the bathroom, took at least an hour of surveying broom closets—of which they had too many—and the arcane diagrams predicting where the rooms should have been were unusually complex because it would always be in the last place she’d check.

Starlight squeezed her eyes closed as the memory of trotting into the banquet hall that one time only to arrive in the bathroom, of all places. She suppressed the urge to vomit at the image of Spike ‘cleaning’ his nose hairs, if he could even call them that.

Twilight, Twilight, Twilight...

The distant chanting of the crowd out front slowly drew her back to the present, with her face in the bushes and a hot—Not[/i hot stallion right next to her poking her shoulder. “Starlight? Are you okay?”

“Yes!” She jolted, almost shaking the entire bush in the process. “Yes,” Starlight blurted repeatedly. “I’m fine. I’m fine. Just—” She cast Chocolate a glance. His warm smile washed over her and she couldn’t help but sigh and return with her own. “It’s just—I was remembering something. About this castle...”

She turned back to the bushes to shoved her head inside, and hopefully get a peek through to the other end. “I think we’re almost there. If my calculations are correct, it should only be a few more feet to the back entrance, and then it’s home free to seeing T—” She scrunched her muzzle. “Princess Twilight and getting this nightmare over with.”

Twilight, Twilight, Twilight...

The distant chanting of the crowd called rolled past them, and just barely masked the heavy, monotonous GLOMP, GLOMP, GLOMP of heavy boots from the inside the garden.

Starlight’s ears snapped forward and she shoved her head deeper into the bush. Chocolate did the same, almost stumbling over her as they both squeezed into the confined space to see what it was.

Starlight was pressed forward under his weight and the leaves parted, rustling, against the intruding intruders, just leaving a small enough gap to get a glimpse of the other side. Armour glinted in the sunshine, and the head of a spear swayed past their line of sight as a weathered old stallion trotted lazily along the perimeter.

“Is that—” Chocolate gasped beside her and Starlight shoved a hoof over his mouth, shushing him with the other.

He nodded, and then whispered when Starlight removed her hoof. “I-I don’t know about this, Starlight,” he said, leaning in closer against Starlight’s barrel. His chest was pressed almost completely against her back as they both craned their necks to see more of the courtyard.

Starlight’s stomach tightened at the prickling of his warm fur against her own; the intermingling of their forms. She could feel her breathing catch, but forced the gasp down as she tried to focus on the important matters: Why are there guards here?

She managed to get her eyes to align with a second opening; and eyed the guard as he did his rounds. He looked old, grizzled, even, with a grey and brown beard almost covering his Captain’s chest plate—far from the hulking Adonis that was his predecessor.

A spear hovered lazily in his magic, bobbing with each step and nod of his head like he was about to fall asleep. Meanwhile, several cadets had made themselves comfortable—busily setting up tents, polishing armour, and—in one case—admiring his mane-bun in a wing mirror.

Chocolate leaned in closer. Starlight’s legs locked, and her barrel tightened as she felt his weight shift from his legs to her own. Chocolate was practically mounting her at this point, and she was fighting with herself to stop her tail from flagging with all the mixed sensations. Every time his tail would flick or sway, the hairs would catch and drag against hers, teasing her slit ever so slightly.

“Are you sure this is even legal?” he said.

Starlight’s face exploded into a blush. She spluttered, almost breaking their cover as her heart leapt into her chest. Did—Did he just— She glanced to him, with every hope to read Chocolate’s expression, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him with his eyes glued firmly against a second opening in the bushes.

Chocolate had a narrow frown as he inspected the guards and their armour, and Starlight took a long, careful, pause to steady her breathing.

He—He wasn’t talking about—“Of course it’s legal,” she said. It didn’t stop her cheeks from burning. “We’re just...visiting. We’re visiting the princess; in an unconventional manner.”

Starlight ran one last scan over the courtyard before backpedalling out of the bush, practically bucking Chocolate off of her back as she did so. The captain had already passed their section and was heading toward the far end of the courtyard, which meant they had a small window of opportunity.

So long as they were quiet, and didn’t try to draw attention to themselves, they should be able to sneak past without anypony noticing.

She gave Chocolate a slight tug of his tail with her magic—a signal for him to follow her, and she hurriedly repeated her plan to him with frantic hoof gestures as she galloped to the side gate, and gave it a s light push with her magic.

Chocolate galloped beside her, and gasped. “Wait, Starlight, it might—“

GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The old hinges whaled in world-ending agony as the gate shuddered and inched itself inwards under Starlight’s force. The noise cut through the silence like an electric band-saw cuts through butter, utterly shattering any sense of stealth they might have had.

Starlight recoiled away. She gritted her teeth and clapped her hooves to her ears to blot out the unholy matripony of ear-splitting horrors that assaulted their eardrums. “Celestia, dam it, Spike—” Starlight swore unabashedly, but cut her scream short, rather choosing to stare daggers at the gate like it was some haunted freak of nature.

Of all the days he could have shirked his duties, he had to pick today. Not yesterday, not tomorrow, not next week, not even on a Saturday. That useless piece of shit had to do it today. This gate was supposed to be oiled weeks ago. She told him so personally.

The screeching died down as quickly as it had started, leaving both ponies frozen and as pale as Zecora without her stripes. Starlight’s ears pricked back up and she shared a glance with Chocolate, an awkward grin filing the chasm between them. “Y-You didn’t think anypony heard that, did you—”

“STOP! Who goes there?”

“Nope, definitely not!” Starlight yelped. Before Chocolate could even scream for help, she shoved him into the bushes and threw herself into looking casual. Yes, one foreleg over the gate—that unholy abomination from the deepest depths of hell—another crossed with the other, and a grin like a manic mare. Nothing says ‘absolutely casual’, sane mare who absolutely belongs here as much as grinning like an insane pony.

The captain of the guard arrived at a canter on the other side of the gate, his spear at the ready to impale any intruders—or pick up garbage. Probably the latter, given by the empty beer rings currently stick around his shaft.

He was slightly out of breath and looked like he was about to drop as he ground to a halt, eyeing Starlight as he raised a hoof to catch his breath “H-Halt.” He wheezed. “Royal-hhh-guard—” The spear wavered before picking up to point Starlight between the eyes, then he coughed and straightened his back, giving her the ‘you’re in trouble now’ gaze. “Authorized personnel only—”

He squinted, and squinted some more. The old stallion’s mouth turned into a wrinkly old frown and he pulled out a pair of spectacles to affix onto the bridge of his nose. With his glasses in place, he squinted and blinked some more. “Oh, terribly sorry, Miss Glimmer.” He tipped the edge of his helmet and the stallion’s scowl turned into a warm smile, like that of an uncle who was a little too friendly with the kids. “I didn’t realise it was you,” he said, and pat a hoof to his chest, puffing out the golden plating. “Can’t be too careful, these days, you know?” He glanced over his shoulder, and then leaned over the gate, waving Starlight in to tip her ear to his mouth. He whispered, “...what with these riots happenin’ an’ all.”

Starlight frowned. Riots? What riots? She whispered back, suppressing a gasp. “Riots?”

“Mhm.” He nodded. The captain leaned back to his own side of the fence. He set a foreleg over the top of it and set the spear in the ground next to him. “Yes ma’am. Somepony called in earlier sayin’ there’d be a Changelin’ attack. Celestia didn’t believe ‘em, of course. She’s too smart fer that, but she sent Twilight some guards anyway, t’ be safe.” His eyes narrowed again, and the spear picked up off the ground to point past Starlight’s head towards the square outside. “And what’n you know!” he shouted. “I get here and we got already fifty ‘n some ponies lined up ‘side there gate! It’s a regular cat-apostrophe!”

TWILIGHT, TWILIGHT, TWILIGHT

The chanting returned, this time more insistent. It was accompanied by the pounding of excited hooves, and the rise of a dust cloud as—possibly—dozens, if not hundreds, of ponies began their next chorus.

“Oh no.” The stallion blanched.

Starlight frowned. She looked back to the crowd once, and then turned to address the captain. “Um... But they’re just ponies? They’re not a mob.”

The stallion’s horn blazed. He gave Starlight a quick glance as he whispered. “That’s what they want you to think.” He said. “They ain’t fooling me, though. Nopony’s getting in or out of this castle under Captain Rotherford’s watch!”

He whistled over his shoulder, then gave a bellowing battle cry as he vaulted the fence and took off toward the front of the castle—“To Victory!” Somewhere inside the castle, war horns blared, and several cadets emerged from the woodwork in his wake, each one jumping the gate and galloping in step, looking more confused and bewildered than the last.

Starlight watched the last of them pass—a scrawny colt that didn’t look any older than sixteen. He stumbled and vaulted over his own hooves as he lugged a giant sword double his size over his shoulder in his magic.

When they had finally gone, Starlight was left standing flummoxed at beside the open gate, wide-eyed with her mouth hanging agape.

She pressed a hoof against the old gate, releasing one last groan as it pushed out of her way, allowing her to enter the courtyard and take a peek around for the first time proper.

It was like the invasion of the filly scouts—half-assembled tents and empty beer cans everywhere. Discarded armour and medical supplied littered the lawn, leaving barely enough space to trot without stepping on something sharp—or tripping over something blunt and landing on something sharp, which Starlight could already tell had happened at least once in the past hour, given by the assortment of bandages and tarps hanging out of their boxes.

The bushes rustled behind her. “Um, Starlight?” Chocolate’s head poked out—eyes-first—from the bushes beside the gate. Two hooves and a tail followed suit at odd angles as the stallion attempted to swim his way through the thick vegetation. “A little help here,” he yelped.

Starlight took one look at him and almost broke into tears laughed. “Oh mother of—” She swore, almost doubled over with laughter. Starlight covered her mouth and bit her lip as she suppressed the giggles. “Chocolate, wh—pfft—What are you doing?”

The stallion wiggled and flailed, causing the bushes to only engulf him further. He almost managed to get one hoof to the ground, before overcompensating and flipping over backwards. He stared at Starlight, muzzle scrunched indignantly as he hung upside-down. “This is all your fault, you know.” He harrumphed.

“Oh come on.” She rolled her eyes and carefully picked her way back to the gate. She paused just in front of the bushes to look it over with her eyes. They were hedges, perfectly normal—even a short prod with her magic didn’t reveal anything unusual about them, but regardless she wrapped a tendril around his foreleg and gave a helpful tug. “How did I get you stuck in the bushes?”

Chocolate went red. “You pushed me in!”

Starlight waved a hoof, muttering, “Technicalities.”

With another pull of her magic, the bushes finally gave up their grip and began to disintegrate from around Chocolate’s body. He slid forward with a definitive jerk, and flailed as Starlight finally freed him the rest of the way from the garden.

“Besides.” Starlight let her horn fade, a thin smirk spreading across her cheeks. She gestured across the yard, toward the far side of the guards’ ‘barracks’ where a gate to the castle hung ajar, revealing a darkened pathway into Twilight’s castle. “I think we found our way in.”